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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24261619">Til Death Do Us Part</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/showmeurteef/pseuds/showmeurteef'>showmeurteef</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Monsta X (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>18th century to present day, Attempted Murder, Blood, Blood Drinking, M/M, Minor Character Death, Murder, Suicidal Ideation, Violence, au where cisheternormativity simply does not, both kinda manipulative, not an example of healthy human relationships, period fic, sleeping in coffins, they hate immortality but love each other, u kno that tumblr post that's like decay is an extant form of life</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:47:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,665</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24261619</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/showmeurteef/pseuds/showmeurteef</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“I could’ve killed you just now, and you never would’ve seen me coming.”</i>
</p><p>changki's love language is murder (n this is a portrait of their relationship in different times n places)</p><p>chapter specific warnings within</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Im Changkyun | I.M/Yoo Kihyun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>drinking and dancing</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>there were minor (but important!!) edits made to this first chapter</p><p>warnings (in addition to overall tags):<br/>- suicide mention in the context of romeo &amp; juliet<br/>- choking<br/>- alcohol is present<br/>- food mentions</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Candlelight curls around gilded busts, licks at a bowl bursting with fruit, and presses up against polished mirrors. Laughter bubbles up to the ceiling. Heels clatter against marble.</p><p>Changkyun drapes a nameless, faceless man over a sofa with all the gentle reverence of a master florist arranging cut roses. The man curls into him. He must not mind that Changkyun’s knees crush his gown’s bulging hips, or that Changkyun’s shoes scuff his white stockings. Changkyun’s shushing is too sweet, his gaze too reassuring. </p><p>No one will discover them here, hidden in one of many small sitting rooms that line the ballroom. The orchestra is playing much too loudly. The drunken, giddy wedding guests won’t notice their absence. This will be his and Changkyun’s little secret. </p><p>Horsehair strikes against cat gut. Another song begins.</p><p>Veins split around Changkyun’s fangs, and wet popping noises splatter across the roof of his mouth. He snarls, fingers tangling with powdered ringlets and satin ribbons, tugging the man closer. Lovely as he is —eyes rolling back, arching against the sofa, desperately clinging to Changkyun’s shoulders— his blood tastes more of wine than metal. </p><p>Changkyun snarls again, but the man must mistake his disappointment for passion because he rolls into him. Changkyun wants to ask what sordid visions are dancing across the backs of his eyelids, but the conversation would be pointless. More aristocratic frivolity to clog his senses.</p><p>The man’s hoops and petticoats threaten to swallow Changkyun whole. He sinks deeper into his veins, so intent on getting the whole disappointing affair over with that he doesn’t notice the heels echoing just behind him, or the muffled chill that falls over the little seating area. </p><p>Changkyun’s mind wanders from the pleasureless meal to portraits of which noble he might taste next. Velvet sheets are tugged away to reveal a lavender-scented old maid, a decorated general, an ink-stained academic. Their imaginary blood warms the walls of Changkyun's skull. </p><p>The man begins to stiffen and shrivel as rotten grapes fully smother Changkyun’s tongue. The symphony of joy and drink and scandal waiting just outside rises to a cacophony. Changkyun is eager to dive back into it; at least one of those sparkling aristocrats must have added temperance to their jewelry box. </p><p>He sits upright with a bitter frown and a lingering hunger. Just as he recovers his fingers from the forest of starch and satin, sharp nails catch the scruff of his neck.</p><p>“I could’ve killed you just now, and you never would’ve seen me coming.”</p><p>Changkyun twists around, abandoning the drained man against gilded arms and crimson damask to look up at Kihyun. A statue flanking the curtained entryway and brushing the back of Changkyun's neck. Kihyun allows the mirrors to multiply his reflection, to erect an infinitely expanding wall of crystallized not-Kihyuns. Changkyun smiles.</p><p>“The maids would’ve found my body entwined with his; <em> imagine </em>the tragic love story they’d conjure up for us.” Changkyun licks blood from his bottom lip and leans back into the sofa, fangs flashing as Kihyun’s eyes rake over billowing linen and silk, over ripened skin. “Would you have attended our funeral? Would you have confessed to murder, just to prevent your lover from being entombed alongside another?”</p><p>“No need to be ridiculous.” Kihyun catches Changkyun’s hands and guides them to rest on his own shoulders. He bends— almost bows, cradling the back of Changkyun’s head and pecking his nose. “I would’ve testified to witnessing a lovers’ suicide. Modern day Romeo and Juliet, found locked in their final embrace, just outside of a noble’s wedding ball... I’d have the whole of France eating from the palm of my hand.”</p><p>A smattering of applause resounds from the ballroom as the strings settle down for an intermission.</p><p>Changkyun runs his fingers through Kihyun’s hair and tugs his head until their lips brush against each other. His fangs prick Kihyun’s bottom lip as he murmurs, “You could publish a book— a series of books. The <em> money...” </em></p><p>“I wouldn’t be in it for the money, little bird. I could have Voltaire’s throne.”</p><p>“You could have anything.”</p><p>Kihyun licks into Changkyun’s open mouth, grimacing at the alcoholic tinge, but kissing him anyhow. Tongues warmed by recent kills catch on sharp teeth. Breathy, wet whispers slip beneath crimson and gold, glass and marble. Something flickers in Changkyun’s eyes.</p><p>Changkyun spreads his legs, one stocking clad knee bumping against the shriveled man, the other stretching off to the side. The tip of his shoe quietly pecks the floor, searching.</p><p>Kihyun presses more solidly against the lax Changkyun. Fangs replace his tongue and lips. Fingers tangle in his hair. Blood pools in the pit of Changkyun’s stomach.</p><p>Another round of applause, sudden and stuttering. The music strikes back up.</p><p>Changkyun’s foot finds that of a candelabra perched beside the sofa. He hooks his toe around it and yanks, knocking the entire thing over. </p><p>The jaunty violins outside muffle the crash of wax and gold, but Kihyun’s hiss is crystal clear as he leaps away from the candelabra’s arc, just in time to save his coattails from the angry little flames that come sailing downwards. The fire extinguishes as soon as it lands. Wisps of smoke tickle the painted ceiling. Kihyun’s glare stabs through the noisy air; a jeweled smallsword.</p><p>Blood pumps faster and faster in Changkyun’s veins— he can sense it pumping, flowing, boiling inside of Kihyun, too.</p><p>“Thought you could get rid of me so easily?” A laugh twists Kihyun's marble face around fondness.</p><p>“Maybe. Maybe for a moment...” Changkyun reaches for Kihyun, grabs at the wounded air. Kihyun doesn’t crack. Changkyun’s fangs latch onto his bottom lip, and the blood swirling just beneath their thin skin goes blotchy. “I wanted to see what you would do.”</p><p>“Come now, you knew <em> exactly </em>what I would do.” Kihyun lets Changkyun tug him closer by the edges of his waistcoat. His eyes are trained carefully on Changkyun’s pink lip, like he might pluck it off of his face.</p><p>He straddles Changkyun’s hips. One wide, sharp hand presses into Changkyun's breastbone to pin him to the sofa.</p><p>“How can you be so certain of what I know?” Changkyun asks with a light, easy smile. He sways like a chandelier, and briefly fantasizes that a reflected Kihyun is latched onto one of his glittering, burning arms; if only he could tear his eyes away from this solid, steady Kihyun to look into the mirrors. </p><p>“Because I know you just as well you know me— <em> better, </em> even.”</p><p>Kihyun curls his other hand around Changkyun’s throat. The chandelier sways harder, shines brighter.</p><p>“What if I surprised you?”</p><p>Changkyun wants to know how much swaying movement it would take for him to come crashing down. If he’d shatter against the floor, into a million shards at the statue’s feet. If the statue would come to life just long enough to use whatever power's left in his veins to smash bits of Changkyun underfoot. His adam’s apple dips beneath Kihyun’s hand.</p><p>“You can’t.”</p><p>Kihyun chokes him. Chokes him hard enough— harder than he’d need to if Changkyun were just some human squirming in his grip. And Changkyun isn’t in the mood to put up a fight, to toy with Kihyun. He pulls Kihyun even closer and wraps his legs around his middle. His mouth droops open. His eyes flutter shut.</p><p>Kihyun’s doesn’t loosen his grip. Doesn’t make a single move to suggest that Changkyun is anything but at his mercy.</p><p>“Open your eyes, sweet bird. Let me see the light go out of them.”</p><p>A shock of gold stings Changkyun’s eyes, but he keeps them wide open. Drinks in Kihyun, so knifelike and beautiful and impossible and perfect above him, on top of him. His would-be murderer painted against the backdrop of luxury, trapping him with nothing more than a single, lifeless hand.</p><p>“I love you. Take me— take me home before sunrise, Kihyun. Let’s go home,” he rasps.</p><p>“Before sunrise?” Kihyun releases his hold on Changkyun’s throat. Tsks at the inevitable lack of bruises. Pecks Changkyun’s nose.</p><p>“If you want—” Changkyun sighs and shrugs, a bright haze seeping into his bones. “Whatever you want.”</p><p>“I love you, too.”</p><p>The dead man’s blood sparkles in Changkyun’s veins as Kihyun roughly hoists him up from the sofa, all his tenderness tucked between his fangs. Changkyun’s head swims with rough touches, plucked strings, Kihyun’s amused smile.</p><p>They slip out of the sitting room and fold back into the party. Veins pulsing and hand in Kihyun’s own, swishing satin and tinkling glasses. The decadence of it all yanks the pit of Changkyun’s stomach.</p><p>“Before sunrise,” Kihyun reminds him. </p><p>Changkyun tugs Kihyun to a halt beside the orchestra. Traces a fingernail over the braided gold on Kihyun’s collar. Kneads his words to the tune of the heavy waltz, “I want to crack this ballroom open like a pomegranate.”</p><p>“I’d like to see you try.” Kihyun’s smile glitters in the candlelight, and Changkyun isn’t certain whether it’s sincerity or challenge flowing from those reddish lips. Whether it’s both.</p><p>Changkyun smiles back.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>ty for readingg &lt;33 finally getting around to posting the rest of this so i hope it ends up being a fun ride !!<br/>u can talk to me abt vampires n also changkyun on <a href="https://twitter.com/showmeurteef">twitter</a> or <a href="https://curiouscat.me/showmeurteef">cc</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>devils in the valley</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>warnings (in addition to overall tags):<br/>- child death (not pictured)<br/>- funeral<br/>- bodily decay mentions<br/>- alcohol mentions</p><p>lmk if u need any other tags/cws/tws !!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He refuses to leave. The sun sunk behind the mountains long ago, submerging the little bowl of trees and grass and villagers in darkness. It’s filled to the brim with chilled summer night. But, still, he refuses to leave.</p><p>The tip of Kihyun’s shoe brushes Changkyun’s backside, but receives no reaction. Changkyun’s spine and head are bent; he’s coiling around the little world he’s made from countless fistfuls of grass ripped from the moist earth. Grip tight. Nails sharp. Ripping and ripping.</p><p>Changkyun’s absence suits Kihyun just fine. He knows that Changkyun isn’t far, that he’ll return whenever Kihyun calls. For now, Kihyun is content to wait.</p><p>A man, a fragile man who refuses to leave. A tear-soaked shawl provides no relief from the cold, the darkness. Sweat and incense linger in his wiry beard. He raises his fists in the air —one filled with dirt, the other empty— and wails. The agonized cry startles the few family members still beside him, swelling up over the village and spilling over the mountains. A father.</p><p>Kihyun’s shoulder presses into a withered tree trunk. Bark splits around bone. A breeze picks up over the father’s cries and the others’ hushed encouragement. It shivers and whispers as they guide his fistful of dirt over the fresh grave. It teases more scent from his beard.</p><p>A tiny cluster of humans, whittled down to those too guilty to abandon the father, or too afraid of the devils he might bring home, should he fail to complete the rituals. For these humans, the only difference between life and death is a few tears, a burning candle, a sprinkling of dirt.</p><p>With an ugly tearing noise, Changkyun rips dozens of blades from the earth at once, sets them beside himself, and weighs them down with a jagged rock. He looks down at his stained palm for a moment, sunken flesh splashed with a brilliant summery green. </p><p>Kihyun rests a hand over Changkyun’s head, tangling his fingers in his hair and lightly pressing into his skull. Changkyun returns to the grass. Plucks one blade at a time. Adds each to the secured pile.</p><p>The others are growing frustrated with the father. The dense grove of trees before them suffocates the remains of the funeral party, the distance between the humble graveyard and the village seems to stretch with the hour. The others coax the father with the promise of fire and alcohol, the threat of abandonment and exorcisms. </p><p>But the father refuses to toss the dirt over his child’s grave. Sending them to the afterlife and barring the devils from following them home means accepting his child’s death. It might take the entire village to rip him away from their body. The tears and consolation turn to argument, and Kihyun’s nose wrinkles at the stench of the last of the day’s humidity lifting from their reddened skin. </p><p>A familiar feeling scrapes against the insides of Kihyun’s veins, settles over the back of his tongue. The child is free from this paltry bickering and the stench of summer. The father will see reason, and he will release the fistful of dirt. The funeral will end. The devils will not attack as soon as their bunch settles around the fireplace back home. </p><p>A quiet, crackling laugh falls out from behind Kihyun’s teeth. The child is dead, plain and simple, and Kihyun is alive.</p><p>Changkyun rustles at his feet, pulled back to their world by the single, familiar thread of Kihyun’s thoughts. He scoops up his collection of grass, with tendrils of roots and dirt dangling from his hand like comets, and blinks up at Kihyun. His face softens, melts to make room for a smile. Eyes closed. Fangs glittering.</p><p>And Changkyun is alive, too.</p><p>That feeling on the back of Kihyun’s tongue, that heavy bitterness spreads as the father wails and the fistful of dirt whispers against wood. Changkyun grabs the hemline of Kihyun’s shirt, and Kihyun tightens his hold on his head. </p><p>The earth gives beneath the funeral party’s feet as they scurry back to the village, chill sunken in and ritual complete. The world doesn’t go quiet as soon as they leave, but the child is left blessedly alone. Thoughts snuffed out by the tumbling dirt. Bones unburdened by the summer-stirred bugs. Soon, the child will be more beetle and tree roots than human.</p><p>Kihyun swallows. He watches Changkyun toss his handful of grass deeper into the forest. The damp blades catch no moonlight beneath the tree coverage, but they dance through the air and shudder as they land; shocks of green in a dark wood, invisible to anyone’s eyes but their own.</p><p>“Let’s rid these poor folk of their grief.” Changkyun’s smile reaches deep into the village, scraping against the rotted walls of their humble homes and tearing into the dim glow of their sad fireplaces. Kihyun kisses his vicious bird, drinking in that lovely smile.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i kno this was super short but ! dividing it up by place/era made the most sense imo so quite a few of the updates will be this length or so ! i hope it was fun pls lmk what u thought &lt;33</p><p>u can find me on <a href="https://twitter.com/showmeurteef">twitter</a> or <a href="https://curiouscat.me/showmeurteef">cc</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>sunlight</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>warnings (in addition to overall tags):<br/>- animal death mentioned<br/>- graphic blood drinking<br/>lmk if u need any other tags/cws/tws !!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Changkyun peels his spine up from the bench’s leather upholstery and rolls onto his side. Skin against skin, each dead hide transformed into something new. He can recall the stench of rawhide hanging in the sun. The ghosts of muscle and fat and hide make his fingertips itch. </p><p>“Find him,” Changkyun barks, gesturing angrily at the attendant who’s been boring him all night. The attendant rushes off with hardly a bow. Are they too terrified to meet Changkyun’s gaze, or are they simply too smart? The scent of sand is left in their wake, tickling at Changkyun’s nostrils.</p><p>The world is warm and still. This house’s thick walls seem to soak up the desert by day, and release it just as soon as Changkyun’s eyelids curl back. The ever-present heat, delivered in shades of beige and brown, can’t be washed out by any amount of red. Changkyun wonders if the beiges and browns will start to bleed into the stars, should their stay here grow too long.</p><p><em> “Find him!” </em> Changkyun shouts into the hot, empty air. </p><p>Sandals shush each other against the dirt floor. Changkyun tucks his bare legs up against his chest; an imitation of the animal whose skin he now lays upon, curled up to protect its vital organs from the hunter. He laughs lightly at the memory of Kihyun’s spear glinting in the sunlight.</p><p>Outside, the city threatens to burst with clattering carts and hungry shrieks. Changkyun stretches a hand before his face. The beads hanging from his wrist rattle softly, but he wonders just how loud he would make them rattle if he put a little more <em> force </em>into his movements. Would the beads be heard even above the din of the city outside?</p><p>“We found him, sir,” the attendant calls, their wet and swollen voice coming from far down the hall. </p><p>Shadows thrown against sun-dried, sun-soaked earth. One silhouette scurries along, their soft bits warbling against the mud bricks. The other’s forceful gait threatens to warble the bricks themselves. </p><p>Changkyun tenses his knuckles. Hums as his bones almost shred through skin. Grins as the approaching torchlight narrows his fingernails into needlepoints.</p><p>“Changkyun, you interrupted my—”</p><p>Changkyun leaps to his feet and pounces on the shadow just as it turns to flesh.</p><p>
  <em> “Changkyun!” </em>
</p><p>A crack. A snarl. The human hits the floor, no longer a human— muscle and fat and hide wrapped up in Changkyun’s bones. Teeth and nails pierce through skin like tissue paper. Far too easy. </p><p>The grit and the heat of the attendant’s blood stirs Changkyun’s insides. He stretches his mouth wide to gnaw at the flesh. His tongue flickers over stretchy, corded bits. He swells with blood. The wet, <em> wet </em>heat that doesn’t slide down his throat bubbles out from the corners of his lips to splatter against the dusty floor. He shudders and digs his nails into the human’s shoulders until they scrape against bone. </p><p>A disgusted scoff echoes throughout the firelit room, but evaporates before it can reach the little arched window.</p><p>“If I weren’t here, you wouldn’t bother making such a mess.”</p><p>The words stretch and stretch inside of Changkyun’s skull. Taffy. Tendons.</p><p>“Help?” His hands stretch upwards, grabbing at the air. He pulls away from the human, the body, the husk. Blood bursts from his mouth, trickling between his fangs and spilling down his chest.</p><p>Kihyun gazes down his nose, past his puckered lips, at Changkyun. Tiny pupils flooded with Changkyun’s bloody face and Changkyun’s needy hands and <em> Changkyun</em>. Changkyun beams.</p><p>“Find me when you’re finished,” Kihyun says, a crooked smile yanking at his dead skin. </p><p>Such an unnecessary request.</p><p>Changkyun’s laughter bubbles out thickly from the blood in his throat as Kihyun turns and walks back down the hall. The sound of reddish globs hitting the floor echoes against the sun-warmed walls.</p><p>Such an unnecessary request and, yet, he said it anyhow.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hello hello ty for joining me w another installment of these two miserable little creachers &lt;33 i’ll probably post the next scene soon ^^</p><p>u can find me talking abt changkyun n vampires but mostly changkyun on <a href="https://twitter.com/showmeurteef">twitter</a> or <a href="https://curiouscat.me/showmeurteef">cc</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>clipped wings</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>warnings (in addition to overall tags)<br/>- ambiguous (as in , unclear whether it happens) minor character death</p><p>lmk if u need any other tags/cws/tws !!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Skirt hems and cap ribbons flutter around Changkyun in the evening breeze. Moonlight bathes his skin —still ruddy from an earlier kill— and twinkles in his eyes that look everywhere, <em>except</em> for where he knows Kihyun lurks. </p><p>Kihyun stands between short, bulbous trees. Jaw, posture, gaze unphased by the bone-chilling wind. Changkyun perfectly times his exhales to match those of his adorable little friend, Minji. Twin clouds of breath colliding and vanishing between twin smiles. </p><p>Changkyun’s smile, however, doesn’t quite reach his eyes. The fullness of his fangs is shrouded by <em> just </em>enough skin. Careful. Kihyun’s hum of approval slides into the undulating pond beside him.</p><p>Changkyun and Minji skitter through the gardens, Changkyun’s every movement mirroring her dizzy excitement. She can’t stop giggling, can’t <em> believe </em> that he helped her slip through her bedroom window and out into the night to visit her fiancée. Changkyun agrees that it’s been <em> much </em>too long since they last saw each other, and promises that they’ll be able to stroll through the moonlit gardens whenever they want, after tonight.</p><p>Minji is different than the usual, naive noble. She had soured the moment she discovered that her hand had been promised to a wealthy old woman. Her future wife was as kind as noblewomen came, Changkyun had said, but a murderous rage, directed at the woman, seemed to be steadily coiling around Minji’s body for weeks now. At the end of their friendly visits, just before the rim of the horizon has been dipped in gold, she whispers thoughts of <em>revenge</em> in Changkyun’s ear, when any other in her position would be dreaming of happily ever after. </p><p>Changkyun insists that he’s merely an innocent foil to Minji, but it’s not as if the first drops of bloodlust that spilled on poor Minji’s head simply fell from the sky. </p><p>Kihyun smiles as he trails behind them, silent as the frost clinging to the tree limbs overhead. He watches his little bird. His little bird and his friend. Recklessly trampling flowers. Playfully toying with the bows perched on each other’s breast. Two pretty, young nobles, so used to being caged, finally set free.</p><p>Changkyun is playing his part so well. Kihyun wants to hold his little talons against his breast.</p><p>Kihyun takes his place among a cluster of statues. The corner of his mouth quirks upward as his pants brush the feet of a granite phoenix. Changkyun will want to know if Kihyun was amused by his fellow audience members, if they enhanced his viewing experience. </p><p>Kihyun refused to echo Changkyun’s interest in Minji’s fate as they slunk to Minji’s window mere hours ago, but he <em>is</em> intrigued by the scene unfolding before him. Changkyun has talked of almost nothing but Minji since they arrived back home. It’s only a matter of time before one snowflake too many lands atop her head.</p><p>Changkyun leads Minji to a pavilion with a delicate flick of his fingers, her giddy look reflected in his eyes. She takes her time, dancing and skipping her way up the gravel path. As he waits, Changkyun stares at an evergreen huddled beside the pavilion pillars with the paltry remains of the season’s first snowfall still dusting its branches. </p><p>Kihyun knows Changkyun wants to smack the freshly fallen snow from the tree. To watch it sparkle as it falls. To hear it crunch beneath his boot. </p><p>Kihyun’s mouth settles into a hard line. Changkyun slips his hands into his pockets.</p><p>“I <em> adore </em> snow-capped trees— <em> everything </em>is so much prettier in winter.” Minji appears at Changkyun’s side, sighing wistfully as if it’s been <em>agonizingly</em> long since she last saw winter, rather than one more measly year spent in the lap of luxury. So much about their home has changed since they last awoke on this patch of earth, but the childlike drama of nobility remains constant. Changkyun clasps his hands before his breast in response to Minji’s absurdity, seemingly affected and affirming. Anticipation lines Kihyun’s stomach with silver. </p><p>The two friends gaze up at the tree. With their backs to Kihyun, he might mistake them for siblings. Similar poses. Similar silks. And the look they exchange is so easy, so familiar. Changkyun looks at her as if she were more than an object of temporary affection. Something warm to share with Kihyun in the long winter evenings. Kihyun’s bird is clever indeed.</p><p>“Even <em> me?” </em> Changkyun tilts his head and dons a toothless smile when she laughs. He takes her winter-reddened hand, and they really do paint the sweetest portrait of human friendship. Like they might burst into song, like they might soar into the starry sky. Kihyun strokes the stone phoenix’s head, before he begins to close in.</p><p>He times his steps to Minji’s steady, relaxed heartbeat. He weaves through a trampled flower bed. One. He crouches behind a newly-trimmed shrub. Two.</p><p>Minji chatters away about some dreamy metaphor of snowflakes and freedom. Changkyun nods as he tightens his grip on her hand, as he slides closer. Ever so slowly, he locks her in the shade of the pavilion. The moonlight barely grazes her back. A single, tiny icicle falls from the pavilion roof.</p><p>Kihyun watches Changkyun’s unoccupied hand clench within his pocket. A fist balled around nervousness or excitement or...</p><p>Kihyun hisses along with the winter wind. Minji’s heart stutters against her ribcage, but she must mistake the excited sensation for an internal warning that Changkyun’s behavior is growing a little too forward. She is a noble, after all. They are alone, after all. He is <em> awfully </em>attractive, after all. There are appearances to maintain.</p><p>“Changkyun, what are you—”</p><p>He releases her hand, but gathers up either side of her face, his fingers urgently pressing into plump, pink cheeks. The ribbons of their caps wander between their faces, separating confusion and concern and... curiosity. </p><p>The silver in Kihyun’s insides warps and smelts into something sharp, something fierce. He barks out a warning.</p><p>Changkyun smiles fully, but his eyes never meet Kihyun’s. That unruly, impossible creature. Kihyun doesn’t move quickly enough. Minji gasps sharply and jerks backward, but Changkyun’s hold on her skull is too tight to allow her to free herself.</p><p>“Now’s your chance, Minji.” His gasp sends ripples of urgency and passion across his expression. <em> “Run.” </em></p><p>For all the sugary clouds in her head, she does react instantly. She breaks away from Changkyun in a wide-eyed flurry, kicking up gravel and ice as she scurries into the moonlight. Minji doesn’t see the calm, inquisitive look settle over Changkyun’s face as he watches her flee, nor the wave of disappointment that hits Changkyun once Kihyun catches her shoulders.</p><p>She gapes at Kihyun, the severe looking stranger who interrupted her flight through the gardens and towards her sleeping fiancée. He tosses her into the snowy evergreen with a displeased glance.</p><p>He hisses Changkyun’s name, but Changkyun doesn’t pay Kihyun any mind as he joins him beneath the pavilion. He’s too interested in the way the snow sparkles as it falls from the tree branches, embroidering Minji’s outerwear more prettily than she could have even afforded as a noble’s daughter.</p><p>“Maybe if she were a princess...” Changkyun murmurs.</p><p>“Why? Why are you so <em> reckless?” </em> Kihyun yanks him forward by his collar, traps his gaze within his own. Stern. Irritated. “What if she had really gotten away?”</p><p>“I don’t think she would’ve.” He shrugs. Shards of ice press against the walls of Kihyun’s skull. “Chasing her would’ve been fun, anyhow.”</p><p>Kihyun’s grip slithers up to Changkyun’s shoulders, tightening. Changkyun is hardly phased, wonder and disappointment still swirling beneath his face. His eyes and teeth glitter like the snow. His talon cards through his hair like the wind.</p><p>“I can’t believe you just killed my friend.” Each word falls from his lips in careful succession; a practiced little tune of unease. Kihyun knows it’s about to be followed by a quivering lip, a backwards step, a withering hand above his breast.</p><p>“Spare me the theatrics,” Kihyun rolls his eyes. “She was nothing more than a taste of today.”</p><p>“But you never let me taste her. Seems an awful waste...” Changkyun relaxes in Kihyun’s hold. Traces a pitiful toe against the ground. </p><p>“You’re lucky I let you have her at all.” Kihyun shoves Changkyun’s shoulders down to force his knees into a bend, and places a kiss on his forehead. “You’re lucky I was here to nip your rash arrogance in the bud.”</p><p>“Am I lucky enough to walk with you through the rest of the gardens, all the way to that old woman’s bedroom window?” Changkyun’s lip quirks upward, until his mouth splits into a crooked, toothy smile. His eyes tease and plead. His hand flits over his empty stomach. Kihyun catches it in his own.</p><p>Fresh snowfall gives easily underfoot— nothing like the shattering, packed crystals that will coat the earth by morning, that will coat Changkyun’s little friend if she’s left undisturbed. The snow muffles their prowling far too well, makes the hunt far too easy. Kihyun’s eyelids narrow around the quiet, icy world.</p><p>“Stay by my side,” Kihyun snaps.</p><p>“Always,” Changkyun sighs and glances away from their destination to flutter his eyelashes at Kihyun. Dreamy. Ridiculous. He realigns his gaze with Kihyun’s own and murmurs, “I’m sorry for almost letting Minji get away.”</p><p>Now, it’s Kihyun’s turn to look away from their future meal. From rich, aged blood. To Changkyun.</p><p>“You aren’t sorry.”</p><p>And Changkyun is smiling.</p><p>“Wouldn’t you hate it if I were?”</p><p>Kihyun holds his reply between his teeth. Changkyun bursts into a flurry of ribbons, splashing the night sky with colorful silk and laughter. He latches onto Kihyun’s arm and presses his cheek into Kihyun’s shoulder; brittle bone sinking into skin that’s puffy from killing, from smiling.</p><p>They find the window shut tightly against the cold. It would take no effort at all to rip the intricately decorated slabs of wood off of their hinges. It will take even less effort to slip inside, unnoticed. The two of them, climbing into the palace. The two of them, landing silently in the dark.</p><p>Changkyun pecks Kihyun’s cheek, snowflakes falling from their caps of silk and fur.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i hope u enjoyed this update !! i rlly liked writing it so hopefully u liked reading ittttt &lt;33 i'll probably post the next chapter in a month or so ? idk. kudos n comments r the wind beneath my wings~*~*~*~</p><p>u can find me on <a href="https://twitter.com/showmeurteef">twitter</a> or <a href="https://curiouscat.me/showmeurteef">cc</a></p>
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